Opals prevail in overtime victory over Lithuania

AUSTRALIA'S Opals have snatched an 80-78 overtime win against
Lithuania in their four-nations tournament opener in Moscow.

Emma Randall had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jenni Screen 14
and four for the under-strength Opals, who will play host Russia
today before meeting China.

The Australians, weary after a 12-hour trip to Moscow that
followed losses to France in Lille and Denain, were without their
Women's National Basketball Association players, Lauren Jackson,
Penny Taylor, Belinda Snell and Tully Bevilaqua, and struggled
against taller opponents.

Screen tied the scores with eight seconds to play after a pass
from Laura Summerton. The Opals scored first in the extra period,
pushed their lead to five points and held on by two.

Coach Jan Stirling said Australia had been challenged because of
poor preparation. "These European teams have been training for a
long period in preparation for the European qualifications for
Beijing early next month," she said. "Our preparation has been very
limited due to player unavailability."

Jackson, Snell and Bevilaqua will join the team for two games
against the US on September 16 and 19.

■Penny Taylor's Phoenix Mercury has levelled its
best-of-five WNBA grand final against Detroit Shock at 1-1 with a
98-70 win in Detroit.

Taylor, Mercury's "go-to" player in game one, had nine points,
four rebounds and five assists in the win, spearheaded by guard
Diana Taurasi (30 points, eight rebounds). Snell missed all her
five shots, but had four assists and three rebounds.

With games three and four in Phoenix, the Mercury's win in
Detroit has taken away the Shock's home-court advantage.

■Australia's greatest male player, Andrew Gaze, will coach
an All-Stars side on a tour of China starting next week. The team,
with players from the second-tier Australian Basketball
Association, will play six games against clubs from the Chinese
Basketball Association, the equivalent of the National Basketball
League.

Gaze, who has coached only Melbourne Tigers' junior teams, last
played in the NBL in February 2005.

"It'll be a good experience and hopefully we'll have some fun,"
Gaze said.

■South Dragons will play Melbourne in a practice game at
Dandenong tomorrow. The Tigers beat them 99-93 in a hitout at the
Cage in Parkville on Saturday. The NBL season starts next week.